Oud Reviews

[Oudamberlove]

I love clarity , honesty and integrity.
However I don't think the public should have free access to posting on vendors sites. It would leave vendors open to all sorts of malicious comments along side honest critical opinions .
A vendor's site is their shop front and as such they may dress their window as they choose.
Forums have the distinction of being the cafe down the Oud souk where we can all kick back and chat about our views and opinions

Plus, all other businesses have marketing, and advertisments, all of that to try and sell their products. It proves to be very effective.

 

[Abdullah]

A webmaster suggested me one interresting option.
If client give bad review, it alerts directly a mercenary squad to attack him in the street !

I think that's the way it should be otherwise they will start asking for refound.

lol

 

[Abdullah]

More seriously we know that a buyer knows that when an oil has no reviews, he hesitates more than another oil with 15 epic reviews.

No reviews on an oil which is posted like since 6 months ...

sometime i like to take a "punt" on an oil even if it has no review or bad reviews. sometimes i have been disappointed and other times pleasantly surprised. as so many many people have pointed out it comes down to an individuals opinion on how much or less they like the oil. that is how i personally pick oils to wear anyway, if i try it and like it, then to me other reviews or opinions don't matter as much.

although saying that, my personal preference does usually fit with everyone else a fair amount of the time. i love reading other peoples reviews whether good or bad and sometimes use them as a guideline on what to expect from an oil.

 

[Abdullah]

@Ammar you were quicker on the keyboard with the above!!![/QUOTE]
lol

 

[Abdullah]

@Habz786 & @Ouddict the "in reality if one can detect....ray, ray, ray", was more of a statement and stated to evoke a thought process, to get people to see and realize that kyara/kinam is agarwood and that they share overlapping scent notes as @Ammar KZ excerpt shows and as GCMS shows. From some of the things I read here and elsewhere it's as if some believe lesser grades of agarwood and kyara/kinam to be a different elements as Au is different from Pt, which isn't the case.

As far as KZ's excerpt saying that it doesn't make financial sense to actually distill kyara; my poor mind agrees but my limitless possibility rich mind begs to differ. Again, this is stated to evoke a thought process. The biggest factor that is discussed concerning an actual kyara distillation is cost, in KZ's example it says $500k/tola. Remember the Ferrari from your example, well there are people in the oud consuming world that have stables of those prancing horses, Bentley's, Bugatti's, yachts, Gulfstream G650 private jets, etc. People who easily pay that just to say they did, to have something others in their "class" don't have, to smell different. Perhaps a guy like the multi-millionaire you mention who has KILOS of kyara. IF a kyara distill actually took place we would likely never know who sponsored it and to whoever would, $500k or even a cool million could be just a drop in the bucket for them. I'm not saying it did or didn't happen but IMO saying it's beyond possibility shows me that someone is only thinking from a broke pocket perspective rather than one of imagination and limitless possibility.

To put it in further perspective, last year alone I spent about 5% of my income on oud. $500k is 5% of ten million; an above average EPL footballer could have easily made that distill for a tola of actual kyara oil. Cristiano Pearl Ronaldo could have made it 7-8 time over.

i totally agree with @Ouddict that it wouldn't make financial sense. 100%

but i am more inclined and hopeful shall we say to agree with @PEARL that someone who can afford it will. i have met a few people like those pearl mentioned that would buy something or spend an amount of money, just so they can say they paid such and such an amount for it. i wonder and can only imagine what true "kyara" oil would smell like...

 

[Oudamberlove]

I O Konbaung
Well, Konbaung starts off with almost the same opening as Aarai Ko Shway but very quickly develops a rich sweetness. The distillation style is similar. The sweetness is sort of fruity, an image of white peach comes to mind, but not peachy, more like light flesh fruits. As AKS dries down to it's slightly woody resin note, Konbaung doesn't let up, it keeps pumping it's sweetness for a couple more hours then gently fades. As for Kinamic notes, the overall profile does not suggest it, but there is a little. There are days when oils of this genre really hit the spot, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[Ammar]

I O Konbaung
Well, Konbaung starts off with almost the same opening as Aarai Ko Shway but very quickly develops a rich sweetness. The distillation style is similar. The sweetness is sort of fruity, an image of white peach comes to mind, but not peachy, more like light flesh fruits. As AKS dries down to it's slightly woody resin note, Konbaung doesn't let up, it keeps pumping it's sweetness for a couple more hours then gently fades. As for Kinamic notes, the overall profile does not suggest it, but there is a little. There are days when oils of this genre really hit the spot, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

@Oudamberlove,
Can you compare it to the similar price high grade Burmese oils like the sweeter version Kachin Ko-Shwe by Agar Aura assuming closer scent profile compared to Royal Chen Xiang? With such released price tag and such high grade wood went into distillation which is partly sinking grade assuming KK-S is also super high grade per website description in addition to the same distiller cooked both oils if I’m not wrong (with added Taha's signature distillation setting I guess), it is more reasonable to compare these side by side rather than with the lower grade Aarai Ko Shway.

 

[jalil]

@Ammar you right bro...with this high price tag you need to compare with oils from other vendors

 

[Oudamberlove]

Point well taken.
My intial thought was to swipe Konbaung just by itself. Then I remembered that in the description of Konbaung, that it continues with the note characteristics of the previous releases but in heaps and spadefuls? That's when I decided to check it out. I don't own AK so I compared it to AKS to see if indeed Konbaung delivers more, and yes it does.

As for Royal Chen Xiang, it has more kinamic facets.

Aside from Konbaung, Aarai Ko Shway, and Royal Chen Xiang, I do not own or have sampled any other Burmese oil. And get this, I would group these three as a unique genre of oud. All of approximately the same quality. It's just that AKS was a steal. However, I'm beginning to think that this genre belongs to Sinensis distillations.
It would have been nice to try the original Kyara LTD

 

[Habz786]

Si Lani FO im not sure what the aim was with this oil but its really different to all the other Sri Lankans oils i have smelt. This opens with a burnt rubber smokey smell, the smoke is unlike aroha which is clean however this comes across rather rusty. Im trying hard to pick out the gyrinops but so far after an hour in u cant pinpoint the unique Sri Lankan character. For people who like smokey oils this is for you however im not too keen on the overpowering smokeyness of this oil.

 

[riviera274]

Sri Lani FO im not sure what the aim was with this oil but its really different to all the other Sri Lankans oils i have smelt. I know its a co distill but this opens with a burnt rubber smokey smell, the smoke is unlike aroha which is clean however this comes across rather rusty. Im trying hard to pick out the gyrinops but so far after an hour in u cant pinpoint the unique Sri Lankan character. For people who like smokey oils this is for you however im not too keen on the overpowering smokeyness of this oil.

I don't think Si Lana was a co distill,not positive though.It is a VERY smoky oil and that smoke is going to last for a few hours,4 on my skin if I remember correctly but the Sri Lankan character will show up if you can withstand the smoke.I like smokey oils but still find this 1 overbearing but I plan to give this oil some time to hopefully tone down a little...well a lot

 

[Ammar]

Sri Lani FO im not sure what the aim was with this oil but its really different to all the other Sri Lankans oils i have smelt. I know its a co distill but this opens with a burnt rubber smokey smell, the smoke is unlike aroha which is clean however this comes across rather rusty. Im trying hard to pick out the gyrinops but so far after an hour in u cant pinpoint the unique Sri Lankan character. For people who like smokey oils this is for you however im not too keen on the overpowering smokeyness of this oil.

Si Lani that you have tried and ended up burned Walla Patta is not a co-distillation, but Sri Lanka and Co is.

 

[hedycent]

Si Lani has been a shock to the system but on my latest swipe I really got into it. It seams like the scent spectrum is settling or else my perception is adjusting.
Anyone tried JK's Oliang? Not smokey but roasted with a capital R

 

[Habz786]

Sorry guys i edited my post, i must have had the 2 oils confused. Now after a few hours i can pick up a little Sri Lankan feel to the oil but the wait is too long. I think if Adam made an oil again like this the style of Aroha would work well as these oils are similar. Im unsure if the aim was to juice such a smokey oil as really it kind of overshadows the beauty of the Sri Lankan Grynops. However Adam is always open to critical reviews and i respect that approach.

 

[F4R1d0uX]

Sorry guys i edited my post, i must have had the 2 oils confused. Now after a few hours i can pick up a little Sri Lankan feel to the oil but the wait is too long. I think if Adam made an oil again like this the style of Aroha would work well as these oils are similar. Im unsure if the aim was to juice such a smokey oil as really it kind of overshadows the beauty of the Sri Lankan Grynops. However Adam is always open to critical reviews and i respect that approach.

Sure Bro Adam could play it safe He knows how to do this, but there were IO with 3 SL, Taha with 2 SL, Adam bet on dpiNG that way ...

I did not try but find it crazy with the wood quality he has in his hand, I think he already knows that...

If I were him, I would do this very different way ...

Adam is an artist anyway and confirms it again with this one heheh

 

[Ammar]

Whether people agree or not, it was a waste of super high grade wood with the potential to be on par with or even superior over whatever Walla Patta juice there on the market.

You can achieve this genre with lower grade of wood with the same result or better. I keep saying there is NO art in harsh smoke that mask the quality of the underlying wood, on the apposite I would imagine someone covers a failed distillation or low grade wood by giving some masking smoke.

And yes Aroha Kyaku is even superior in that manner...

 

[F4R1d0uX]

Wether people agree or not, it is a waste of super high grade wood with the potential to be on par with or even superior over what is Walla Patta juice there on the market.

You can achieve this genre with lower grade of wood with the same result or better. I keep saying this there is NO art in harsh smoke that mask the quality of the underlying wood, on the apposite I would imagine someone covers a failed distillation or low grade wood by giving some masking smoke.

And yes Aroha Kyako is even superior in that manner...

I was saying the same thing but more kindly brother @Ammar

Actualy Adam is an artist because he does things like he wants and good for him if it pleases.

Like he accepts criticism and it's very rare but will probably still does like he wants and in that point he is an artist you see ?

Sometimes you bet on one thing and it ends up messed up... Sure I wanted to write you should do that with lower grade but I prefered suggesting it...

Sometimes you try and it works, sometimes not ...

He sold all batch good for him, maybe next time people will ask him samples when he describes something "unusual" hahahaha

 

[Ammar]

He sold all batch good for him, maybe next time people will ask him samples when he describes something "unusual" hahahaha

There was no description about anything at anywhere; otherwise I probably wouldn’t buy it. The only mention of the smoke for the first time is when I reviewed the oil here.

I’m a little bit harsh on Adam about this oil because it was a painful experience to me. Can you believe an “extremely high quality dust. Up on testing several peaces many of them were sinking… amazing scent profile...of course… it is Si Lani wood… we are not talking mother trees here… probably grand, grand mother.” distilled by no less than Adam with a price tag of $250/2.5g?...And you happily, like an excited puppy, unscrew the bottle cap, sniff the wand and…hmmm, what the heck just happened!?.

I felt olfactory violated…

 

[JohnH]

I felt olfactory violated…

 

[Ammar]

I kid you NOT...LOL!